The Corrupted Monster Has Entered the City!

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A monster? Lyle frowned, intending to rush straight ahead to rescue the citizens, but Jiang Cheng reached out and immediately stopped him.

She turned her head, put her index finger to her lips, and made a "shh" sound.

A weird smile hung on her face.

"Jiang Cheng, what are you doing?"

Lyle frowned and asked.

"Nothing."

Jiang Cheng tilted her head and smiled.

"But, I hope the great Hero will refrain from getting involved in today's events."

"So you really didn't just come out for shopping today,"

Lyle said with a grim expression, certain of his conclusion.

"No, no, no~"

Jiang Cheng smiled widely.

"Honestly, I really did just come out to shop."

"After all, watching a show is a form of entertainment when shopping, isn't it?"

"How did you get past the Hero's truth-sensing skill?"

Lyle asked gravely.

"It clearly told me you weren't lying."

"Of course—because I truly wasn't lying,"

Jiang Cheng said with a smile.

"Because I really wanted to go shopping. The time I spent shopping with you—I was genuinely happy."

Hearing this answer from Jiang Cheng, Lyle was stunned for a moment, but in the end, he said nothing more.

On the street, corrupted monsters that had come out of nowhere were crashing into roadside stalls and buildings.

Lyle gripped the longsword in his hand, preparing to charge forward, but Jiang Cheng stopped him again.

This time, to keep sword-wielding Lyle from advancing, Jiang Cheng even cast a divine spell.

Fresh blood welled up, staining a patch of her newly bought clothes bright red.

The blood she offered formed a crimson barrier in front of Jiang Cheng, blocking Lyle as he tried to surge forward.

"Tsk."

Jiang Cheng glanced at her now-stained new clothes and sighed. "My new clothes are dirty again."

"So," she continued, turning to look at Lyle, "you can't go, sir Hero."

"You!"

Lyle was frustrated. Monsters were harming people right in front of them, yet Jiang Cheng wouldn't let him help.

To him—the Hero—this was worse than death.

"Haaa."

Jiang Cheng glanced at Lyle's reaction and let out a sigh.

This child was still so naive. Back when she was Lyle's teacher a long time ago, she would fool him, and he never noticed.

"Look carefully,"

Jiang Cheng said to Lyle, as she really had no other choice.

Lyle paused, and looked closely at the corrupted monsters who were "slaughtering" ordinary citizens.

Looking closely, Lyle noticed something unusual immediately.

Those corrupted monsters didn't really seem to be killing people. There were few cases of severe injuries, let alone deaths.

But corrupted monsters were supposed to be mindless and feral. What was going on?

Lyle frowned in thought, unable to figure out what could make such brainless creatures act in this way.

"Are you wondering why these corrupted monsters seem intelligent?"

Jiang Cheng said, watching Lyle's reaction, certainty in her tone.

"Yes,"

Lyle replied.

This time, unlike yesterday, Lyle didn't deny it or come up with another theory from his uniquely wired brain.

"Normally, corrupted monsters don't have brains; it should be impossible for them to hold back like this."

"Have you forgotten the days I made you observe corrupted monsters' behavior?"

Jiang Cheng rolled her eyes.

"They react differently to specific frequencies of sound... Is that what you mean?"

Lyle recalled something.

"Following this line of thought, if someone did massive experiments to know which frequency matched which reaction, it would indeed be possible to control them."

"You know a lot. Don't tell me you're the one behind this?"

Lyle frowned, eyeing Jiang Cheng suspiciously.

'Idiot',

Jiang Cheng retorted mercilessly.

"I already said, apart from shopping, I didn't do anything else today."

"So someone else must have remembered those special frequencies too?"

Lyle asked, frowning.

"Of course—not. What you just mentioned would work, but it actually has nothing to do with what's happening now."

Jiang Cheng shrugged.

"I only asked if you remembered what I'd had you observe, just to remind you not to forget."

Lyle stumbled—a little annoyed. This woman had tricked him, and he'd seriously tried remembering all that.

"So what is the real reason?"

Lyle demanded, "Tell the truth! Stop messing with me."

After secretly testing the sensitivity of Lyle's truth-detection skill again, Jiang Cheng finally told the truth.

"I thought you would have remembered. This way of controlling corrupted monsters has appeared before."

She shrugged.

"You mean..."

At that moment, Lyle realized what Jiang Cheng was referring to.

"Mm, that's right. When we went deep into the corrupted zone before, the oversized corrupted monster and the invisible corrupted monster were both being controlled. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"So it was them!"

Lyle finally recalled the humanoid corrupted monsters they saw in the corrupted zone.

"That's right~"

Jiang Cheng smiled and snapped her fingers.

"Come on out, miss Renata, our dear one. No need to hide anymore, our Hero here can't wait to meet you."

"It seems I can never fool you, Your Excellency Saintess,"

Renata's figure emerged from the air beside Jiang Cheng. She bowed and saluted Lyle once more.

"Respected Hero, thank you for your willingness to help fulfill the wishes of our people."

"I haven't done anything yet. I won't help foreigners,"

Lyle replied coldly.

"Mm-hmm, sure, of course not,"

Renata obviously picked up on Lyle's stubbornness. She smiled and said a few words before preparing to disappear again.

"Come back!"

Lyle called out hastily—he hadn't yet found out what their intentions were.

Even though there had been no casualties so far, frequent attacks on civilians were obviously no good way to begin.

"Is there something else you need, hero?"

Renata asked with a mild smile.

"What exactly is your purpose in coming to the city to do all this?"

Lyle asked seriously.

"Huh?"

Renata laughed.

"The person who initiated the entire plan is right beside you. She loves you so much—why not just ask her directly?"

"Ah?"

Lyle was stunned.

Jiang Cheng's expression instantly froze.

She loves me so much?

Lyle's mind was thrown into confusion by that single sentence.

But he shook his head, deciding to get back to business first. He looked at Jiang Cheng.

"Jiang Cheng, what is their real purpose in coming to the city?"

"That—"

Jiang Cheng shrugged and chuckled lightly, "I can't disclose that, my dear Hero."

"But—" seeing Lyle about to speak again, Jiang Cheng interrupted him.

"I can tell my beloved Hero that, in a moment, there will be quite a show."

"What show? I'm not interested."

Lyle sensed that this "show" definitely spelled trouble.

There had never been anything good about the 'shows' this woman looked forward to.

You'll know soon enough, Jiang Cheng said lightly as she turned around.

After she turned, a trace of murderous intent flashed in Jiang Cheng's eyes.

These corrupted monsters really didn't know when to shut up.

She had thought they'd die soon anyway, and it wouldn't matter if they learned a few things. But now it seemed—

—they had died far too late.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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